Got to sleep in a little today. Checked out of hotel at 11:30 and took about 45 minutes for the valet to bring the car around as the battery was dead and they had to jump it. Today we are going to Julie’s granddaughter’s apartment to visit and spend the night. Was a little worried about driving in New York City but all went well. Julie drove, I was the front seat navigator, and Susan was the backseat navigator. We did have a problem with finding the parking garage because all the one way streets but Shelby met up with us when we got close...

Today’s plan is to visit the 911 site, One World Observatory (our appointment time 11am,am), walk the Brooklyn Bridge then walk over to China Town. A lot to do but time is running short. Taking the subway again today we got off at Cortlandt St and walked from there to the site of the Twin Towers. We viewed the 2 reflection pools where the towers stood, North Pool and South Pool with the victims names engraved around the ledge of each pool. A rose is place by the persons name if their birthday is that day. Entering the Oculus we stood there...

This is a NO REST vacation!!!!!! Up at 6am out the door to get coffee at 8am then on the subway to Battery Park and the State of Liberty. We had no problem riding the subway. We got on at 47th St (by the Olive Garden) took the yellow R toward Downtown and got off at Whitehall St. We had reservations to go to the Pedestal at 12. Cost was $14 pp senior rate. The view from the Pedestal was wonderful. It was a climb of 195 steps up but we took the elevator up and walked down, easier that way! Took lots of pictures!!! Visited Castle Clinton and...

I arrived at my sister and brother-in-law's house in the Berkshires ( Massachusetts) last Monday. After some discussion it was decided to spend this weekend at their condo in Manhattan. Today we visited the birthplace of Teddy Roosevelt followed by a trip to Federal Hall.
The docent at the Roosevelt house was magnificent! My sister and I were mesmorized by his presentation of T.R.'s early years , married life, adventures, accomplishments, hardaches, hardships, and attitude in dealing with each one. I loved touring Sagamore Hill last year,...

The 'red-eye' flight from SF was great although our seating wasn't the best. Side-by-side instead of front-to-back would have been nice although Gilly did score a few head massages because of it.
Our hotel was old but homely and quite well positioned near Carnegie Hill, just a few blocks from Central Park. Free afternoon wine, cheese and nibbles everyday went down well with us.
Overnight snow and a 2 deg C daytime temperature definitely got our attention but was novel for us and good for our preparations. The following days did warm up a...

Sun 12th Nov - - - last full day, Westport day trip
It’s another cold day and not expected to go above 7degC. Had breakfast in the room as normal (cereal and banana) and then at 9:20 called a Uber to take us to Central Station for the MetroNorth train to Westport. Departed at 10:02 and arrived at Westport at 11:16.
Great to be welcomed by Brett again at the station. Very exciting to meet Fred and Sue - first time since the wedding in 2011. Chatted over coffees and then had some Thai for lunch. Kids were super excited to go down to Compo...

Sat 11th Nov - - - Veterans Parade
Great news - we’ve made arrangements with Brett and Lindsay for us to do a day visit tomorrow. Up and back by train same day. Will give us an opportunity to catch up with Lindsay’s folk who are down from Upstate New York for a few days. Exciting plan to finish off the holiday.
Today’s Veteran’s Parade will occur from 11:15 through to 3:00 marching from Madison Sq Park on 23rd St right up 5th Avenue to 52nd St and be followed by a festival on sorts on 53rd. We set off at 10:45 along 57th St until we got to...

Fri 10th Nov - - - Very Cold, Rockefeller ice rink, Macy’s,
Today we were warned - there was a FREEZE warning on the TV last night. The morning temp at 8:00 is 40degF (3degC but with the chill factor it feels like -4degC). Normal people stay home and stay warm. So!!!!
We headed off to the Midtown area towards the Garment district where Macey’s is. With a detour via the Rockefeller Centre of course. The ice rink was only half the size of the one at Bryants yesterday and no where near as nice in setting. Kept walking and came across a dozen...

Thu 9th Nov - - - Ice skating, 1WTC 100th floor
Our walk today was intended to take us to Rockefeller Centre, but with a failing memory I had the wrong street and we walked too far south before heading east. We ended up at Bryant Park - but bonus, they too had a large ice rink outdoors. Bought a cuppa and sat down to watch the skaters. Walked to nearest subway and caught train to WTC/ Oculus.
The ride up to the 102nd floor was amazing as the 3 walls of the lift showed a video presentation of what was outside at the different levels. 102...

We are on our way to the other side of the World. Our adventures started with a ride to the train station from Katie, thanks, then Metro North train from Beacon to Grand Central Station in NYC. A quick walk out and around the corner and we caught the airport shuttle bus. We have successfully navigated JFK airport and are waiting to board our planenext challenge is LAX, changing planes there. We are expecting to land in Sydney, Australia at 7:05 am on Monday morning...oh how the time flys!

Fri 13th Oct - - - NY (High Line)
Just 2 days in NY so today after breakfast in the hotel Gotham Cafe we want to walk the High Line. This popular landmark is approx half way from our hotel to the bottom at about 23rd St.
The NY streets running East-West are numbered from the bottom (south) of Manhattan (WallSt area) up to the top (Bronx area) way above Central Park. The avenues running North-South are numbered from 1 near the East part of Hudson to 12th near the main part of Hudson River. This makes for easy navigation. Our hotel was on...

Thu 12th Oct - - - NY (9/11 Memorial)
Didn’t wake till 9:30 and went out to find a place for breakfast. (Romeos Bar and Grill) Looked like it used to be a church. Raised platform with closed in pulpit to one side - except that when Ron peeped behind the pulpit lo and behold the “minister” kept a beer keg there with a sound system sitting on top!!! From there we caught the subway down to the Chambers St stop and walked about a block (underground) to the exit which came out in the Oculus a large shopping centre in the simulated shape of an...